Trestle.



No. 788,570. PATENTED MAY 2, 1905. W. N. WIGHT & F. E. TOWNSEND TRESTLE.

APPLICATION FILED MAB.9,1903.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

INVENTORS: 4% 5.1,

By At/omeys, M 6mm WITNESSES:

NITED STATES Patented May 2, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM N. WIGHT AND FRED E. TOWVNSEND, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

TFRESTLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 788,570, dated May 2,1905.

Application filed March 9, 1903. Serial No. 146,906.

To no 707210172, it may concern.-

Be it known that we, VVILLIAM N. VVIorrr, residing in the borough ofManhattan, county of New York, and FRED E. ToWNsEND, residing in theborough of Brooklyn, county of Kings, city and State of New York,citizens of the United States, have jointly invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Trestles, of which the following isaspecilication.

Our invention aims to provide certain improvements in trestles wherebythey may be built of concrete of equal strength and having greatadvantages as compared with the steel and iron structures now commonlyused.

The trestle of our invention is designed to support elevated railways,viaducts, aqueducts, and all similar structures. It is more lasting thansteel and does not require the frequent painting and inspection whichare necessary with steel structures. In fact, it is practicallyeverlasting. Various other ad vantages in detail are referred tohereinafter.

The accompanying drawings illustrate a structure embodying our inventionand adapted to carry an elevated railroad.

Figure 1 is a plan showing a portion of the railroad-track in position.Fig. 2 is a side elevation of half of one of the longitudinal girdersextending between adjacent columns. Fig. 3 is an elevation of one-halfof one of the transverse girders, showing also the longitudinal girdersin section. Fig. 4E isa horizontal section through one of the columnsand the intersecting point of a longitudinal and a transverse girder.Fig. 5 is a section of one of the transverse girders, being a section onthe line 5 5 of Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a transverse section of one of thecolumns below the girders. Figs. 7, 8, and 9 are isometric views of thefabric used in reinforcing the joints of the girders.

The weakest points of steel trestles are the connections, which byreason of the vibration to which they are subjected are constantlyworking loose. In our improved trestle we improve the joints by formingthe members joined in a monolith of concrete. Certain advantages may besecured by making only the oints between the girders monolithic or bymaking only the oints between the columns and the girders which aredirectly supported therefrom monolithic; but preferably the entirestructure consisting of columns, transverse girders supported therefrom,and longitudinal girders supported from the transverse girders is madein substantially a single block of concrete, thus making the structureelastic as a whole and not more yielding at the joints than at otherparts. Preferably the concrete is reinforced by embedded metal, and suchmetal may be arranged in any suitable manner. The embedded metal ispreferably arranged only to relieve the internal strains within theconcrete and not to receive directly any great part of the strainsinduced by the load to be carried. The concrete is intended as asubstitute for the usual metal load-carrying elements, and the metalreinforce is merely an accessory part of the complete concrete elements.The metal reinforce preferably extends continuously from one to theother of the girders or from the girder to the column which supports it,so as to more eflectively tie the parts together and make the structurecontinuous. The character, relative position, and arrangement of theseveral parts are not material as long as the continuous monolithicfeatures are preserved.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated the structure issupported, primarily, by columns A. Across the line of the structure andbetween opposite columns extend transverse or primary girders B, whichin turn carry secondary longitudinal girders or track-beams C. Thiscombination of columns and girders is especially adapted for elevatedrailways in cities, the columns being spaced far apart to provide roomfor a railway-track underneath and the longitudinal girders C beingproperly spaced to take directly the weight of the trains on the rails.A track structure may be built directly on these longitudinal girdersand may consist of cross-ties I), carrying the rails E and held down bymeans of bolts F passing through plates Gr, embedded in the track-beamsat the time of their formation. The columns A and girders B and G aremolded in a single structure of concrete, as indicated best in Fig. 4..Preferably at the same time there are molded between the trackbeamshorizontal stiffeners H, of small bars of concrete, reinforced bywire-netting or not, as desired. These bars stiffen the beams againstthe lateral shocks due to the moving trains. The girders of,the twosystems are preferably made deeper at their points of support where theshearing strain is greatest, and this portion of extra depth forms asort of bracket to stiffen the joint.

The concrete may be reinforced in a variety of ways. We preferably usefor this purpose a wire fabric having longitudinal and transverse wirescrossing each other and bound together at their crossing-points toprevent accidental displacement of the wires, one set of wires beingpreferably straight and the fabric being laid with these straight wireslongitudinal of the girder. Such a fabric is described in detail in theapplication for patent of William N. Wight, Serial No. 114,868, filedJuly 9, 1902. We have illustrated an arrangementof thereinforcingmaterial which is especially adapted to the structure underconsideration. The general arrangement of the sheets of fabric isindicated best in Figs. 2 and 3, only the outlines of the sheets beingindicated. In the longitudinal girder, Fig. 2, a rectangular-sheet J isembedded, extending the full length of the girder. At the end portionsof each of the girders C is a supplementary sheet of fabric K, its loweredge extending approximately parallel to the lower edge of the girderand its upper edge extending along near the upper edge of the girdersimilarly to the main reinforce J. The sheets of fabric J and K arepreferably U-shaped in crosssection, as indicated in Fig. 3, extendingalong the sides and bottom of the girder. In addition the girder isreinforced by two sets of tension rods or wires. The upper set of rods Lextend from the upper part of the ends of the girders and are depressedat intermediate points in the form of a catenary, so as to transmit thetensile stresses to the upper part of the primary girders. Similar rodsor wires M extend horizontally near the lower portion of the girder andtransmit the tensile strains to a lower point of the primary girder.Preferably the wires L and M are continuous from one span to the next ofthelongitudinal girders, and where the rods are not sufficiently longfor that purpose those of one span may be hooked or otherwise united tothose of the adjacent span, as indicated at N, Fig. 2. The upper wires Lmay be supported at the ends of the spans upon metal bearing-pieces 0,set in the concrete.

The transverse girders B may be similarly reinforced by rectangularsheets of fabric J extending throughout their length and by additionalsheets K at the deeper end portions and having their edges approximatelyparallel to the upper and lower edges of the girder at this point. Thisgirder is also shown as reinforced by wires L, suspended from the topsof the girders at its ends and arranged in a catenary, so that itscentral portion is near the bottom of the girder, and by horizontalwires M, extending along near the bottom of the girder.

The mode of making the reinforce continuous from one girder to the otherat their point of intersection may be varied considerably, as by tyingthe reinforces of the crossing girders to each other or by extending thereinforces of one into the other in various styles. Fig. 4 indicates asuitable arrangement. In this figure the main reinforcing fabric J ofthe transverse or primary girder B extends continuously in a straightline from end to end of the girder without interruption at thecrossing-point. The main reinforce J of the longitudinal girder extendsfrom end to end of such girder and at its ends is bent at right anglesto form lateral portions P and downwardly-projecting portions Q, Fig. 3,embed ded in the transverse girder B a slight distance outside of thefabric J. This reinforce J embedded in both the girders and extendingcontinuously from-one to the other, would alone give a sufficientmetallic bond between the crossing girders. We prefer, however, tosimilarly extend the auxiliary reinforcingsheets K and K continuouslyfrom one to the other of the girders, so that these two parts of thereinforce are, in fact, one sheet of fabric. At the inner side of thelongitudinal girder this may be done by bending the fabric in the shapeshown in Fig. 7, with the two parts K K (the latter being, in effect, acontinuation of K) at right angles to each other and preferably withflaps R R along theirlower edges adapted to extend across the bottoms ofthe girders and to form, with the corresponding reinforce on theopposite side, the U-shaped reinforce previously referred to. For theouter side of the longitudinal girder the fabric may be cut and bent inthe shape shown in Fig. 8, in which the portions K for the longitudinalgirder C taper at the ends identically with those on the opposite sideof the girder, and the portions K are enlarged toward the end to a shapecorresponding approximately with that of the end portion of the primarygirder B. A flap S may also be provided which will lie in the maingirder and below the secondary girder, as indicated in Fig. 3. Thereinforces for the connec tions of the two intermediate longitudinalgirders may all be made of the shape shown in Fig. 7.

The columns illustrated are especially designed for the monolithicstructure above described, with the continuous reinforce extending intoboth the girder and column. Fig. 6 illustrates the cross-section of thecolumn below its connection with the girder, and Fig. 4 illustrates thesame at the point where it is united with the girder. The body of thecolumn is of concrete, preferably solid, as shown,

and near the face thereof is a reinforcing fabric T. Preferably the samefabric above described is used with the straight wires extendingcircumferentially of the column, so as to resist buckling strains. Thecorners of the column are reinforced and protected by metal, preferablyin the form of angle-bars U. which may be anchored by any suitableanchors V, extending into the concrete body of the column. Thesecorner-pieces not only reinforce the strength of the column, but areespecially useful in railways in cities to protect the corners of thecolumn from being chipped by passing vehicles. The inside corner-piecesmay extend only from the base to the lower edge of the girders B, asindicated in Fig. 3, the outside corner-pieces being preferably extendedclear to the top of the column. Thus there is no break in the monolithiccharacter of the united column and girder.

The reinforcing fabric J of the girder B extends also into the column,as shown, and thus constitutes a reinforce embedded in and extendedcontinuously from one to the other of said parts, and this sheet offabric alone may be depended upon to secure the desired continuity ofmetal. It is convenient, however, and preferable to extend the reinforceK, which is in the deeper end portions of the girder, into the column.(See Fig. 4:.) Where the length of the girder B from the firstlongitudinal girder C to the column is not very great, the fabric cutand bent, as in Fig. 8, may extend continuously into the three componentparts of the structurenamely, the columns and the primary and secondarygirders. The fabric T, which is embedded throughout the length of thecolumn, may be cut away at the inner face of the column where the latterjoins the girder. The fabrics J and K then extend, as shown, parallelwith the sides of the girder and nearly to the outer face of the column.The end of the fabric shown in Fig. 8 may be bent up to form a flap W,and the end of the fabric J may be similarly bent up to form a flap X,Fig. t, to reinforce the column near its outer face.

Fig. 9 shows a shape for the sheet of reinforcing fabric, which forms,in effect, four of the sheets (shown in Fig. 7) combined in one andwhich is adapted for use between any two of the longitudinal girders.The rectangular portions K will lie in the transverse girder at oppositesides thereof, forming together the U -shaped reinforce described, andthe wings K will lie along the adjacent sides of the two longitudinalgirders included and may be formed with or without the flaps R forconnection with the reinforces at the opposite faces of the respectivegirders.

The wires or rods L M L M may be of any suitable style. They may, forexample, be either separatewires, as shown, or they may be made up ofbundles of smaller wires twisted together or not, or they may be narrowstrips of fabrics formed by weaving or otherwise and either laid flat ortwisted or rolled into a rod. In fact, a variety of forms are obviouslyapplicable to the use described.

Though we have described with great particularity of detail a structureembodying our invention, yet it is to be understood that the inventionis not limited to the specific embodiment shown.

Various modifications of the details and in the arrangement andcombination of the parts may be made without departing from theinvention.

What we claim is l. A trestle comprising in combination columns, primarygirders supported therefrom, and secondary girders supported from saidprimary girders, and unconnected to said primary girders except at thepoints of support, said trestle being made of concrete arranged todirectly receive and resist the principal strains of the structure, saidconcrete being reinforced by embedded metal subjected only to theinternal strains occurring within the concrete and to substantially noneof the principal strains in the structure.

2. A trestle comprising in combination columns, primary girderssupported therefrom, and secondary girders supported from said primarygirders, made of concrete arranged to directly receive and resist theprincipal strains of the structure, said concrete being reinforced byembedded metal subjected only to the internal strains occurring withinthe concrete and to substantially none of the principal strains in thestructure, the metal reinforce being extended continuously from one tothe other of said girders.

3. A trestle comprising in combination columns, primary girderssupported therefrom,

and secondary girders supported from said primary girders, andunconnected to said primary girders except at the points of support,said trestle being made of concrete arranged to directly receive andresist the principal strains of the structure, said concrete beingreinforced by embedded metal subjected only to the internal strainsoccurring within the concrete and to substantially none of the principalstrains in the structure, the metal reinforce being extendedcontinuously from a column into a girder supported thereby.

4. A trestle comprising, in combination, columns, primary girders andsecondary girders formed in a monolith of concrete with reinforcingmetal embedded in and extending continuously from one to another of saidparts.

5. A trestle comprising, in combination, columns, primary girders andsecondary girders, formed in a monolith of concrete with a sheet ofreinforcing metal embedded in and extending continuously into each ofsaid parts.

6. A girder formed of concrete of greater depth at its ends, a metalreinforce comprisl ing a U-shaped fabric extending throughout saidgirder along its bottom and sides, and an additional metal reinforcecomprising a similarly-shaped fabric at the end portions of said girderalong the bottom and sides.

7. A girder formed of concrete of greater depth at its ends, areinforcing fabric embedded in said girder throughout its length, and anadditional reinforcing fabric embedded in the end portions of saidgirder.

8. A girder formed of concrete reinforced by sheets of metal fabricextending parallel to the sides thereof and by additional wires or rodsextending between the supported ends of the girder.

9. A girder formed of concrete having a reinforcing fabric embeddedtherein adjacent to its sides, wires or rods embedded therein lying attheir central portions in the lower part of the girder and at their endsin the upper part of the girder, and wires or rods extending throughoutthe girder adjacent to its lower portion.

10. In a trestle, in combination, a pair of girders at an angle to eachother, and a metal reinforce comprising a sheet of fabric havingportions K and K embedded in said girders adjacent to the sides thereofand extending continuously from one to the other.

11. In a trestle, in combination, a column, a transverse girdersupported thereon, a longitudinal girder at an angle to said transversegirder, and a metal reinforce comprising a sheet of fabric havingportions K K embedded respectively in said longitudinal girder and insaid transverse girder and column to form a continuous metallic union ofsaid parts.

12. A girder formed of concrete reinforced by sheets of metal fabricembedded therein and extending parallel to the sides thereof and inaddition by wires embedded therein extending in a catenary from theupper part of the ends of the girder through the lower part of thecentral portion of the girder.

In witness whereof we have hereunto signed our names in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM N. IGHT. FRED E. TOIVNSEND.

Witnesses:

DOMINGO A. UsINA, FRED WHITE.

